The present application relates to a game table for playing a game with a gamepiece and, more particularly, to a game table having virtual goals comprised of proximity sensors that may be actuated to on and off conditions to modify a size of the goal, handicap the game and/or play a number of alternate games that do not include goals. In addition, the present invention relates to a game table adapted for playing foosball including a continuous play goal mechanism that generally prevents the foosball from becoming stuck or trapped in the goal or along an endwall of the foosball game table.
Conventional game tables include goals having a fixed size and a fixed position. When playing such games, for example, table hockey or foosball, the object of the game is to direct a gamepiece into your opponent's goal. These conventional game tables are incapable of handicapping the game when a vastly superior player competes against a less skilled player and are limited to the specific game that the game table is configured to play.
The game table of the present invention includes goals having a size that may be altered to handicap a specific game or to make the game more challenging for players of different levels of skill. In addition, the same game table may be set up to play a plurality of different games without altering the table itself. The game table of the present invention provides a game table that may be adapted to play table games in a number of exciting configurations and to play a number of different games.
It would be desirable for the game table of the present invention to include a mechanism that generally prevents the game piece or ball from becoming lodged in a goal or along the endwall. Specifically, on a foosball table, the players are typically unable to reach into a goal area and, when utilizing the virtual goal of the present invention, the players or foosmen are specifically designed such that they are unable to reach into a goal area as they may set off a goal signal by moving into a sensor area of the goal. Accordingly, a foosball may become stuck or lodged in the goal if a mechanism is not provided for generally preventing the foosball from becoming stuck in the goal area without intervention from the user or foosmen.